Abstract:
The most significant evolution in the modern world could be regarded as the Japanese one. Japan is a country affected by demographic challenges with few territories. Besides, is also exposed to the elevated risk of natural disasters. This country became a global economic force and an example of successfully triumph over the economic crises. This paper proposes a brief analysis of the main drivers of the Japanese evolution in the post- world war II describing the development strategies obtained for this development.
Japan a story of success :
There are many success stories after disasters and devastations, but the Japanese story is different, and the Japanese people are unique. They made success after success in a unique and wondrous way, raising from ashes of a ruined country. They believe that wars bring no glories but destruction and disasters, the story began when they changed their lives and converted machine gun factories to make sewing machines; optical weapons factories produced cameras and binoculars.
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By the end of the Cold War between the United States of America and the former Soviet Union, many studies, researches, and books of American and Western thinkers, spoke on the modern Japanese experiment calling it “Japan Miracle”, often expressed their fear of Japan's success and triumph in global polar leadership, after the collapse of Bipolar.
Japan in geography.
Japan has a total of 6,852 islands extending along the Pacific coast of East Asia, around 73 percent of Japan’s land is forested, mountainous, and unsuitable for agricultural, industrial, or residential use. The habitable zones, located in coastal areas, which have extremely high population densities. The distance between Japan and the continent at the nearest point is about 180 km, and this geographical situation participated in making it geographically and culturally detached thus Japanese produced their own distinctive culture. which contained a combination of historical and geographic conditions combined to push their country towards a renaissance. These complicated Japanese geographies gave the people a unique characteristic, Japan’s lands were not suitable for exploitation, and the rest of which were too narrow to accommodate people. With a population of about 127 million, Japan is the seventh most populous country with the capital of Tokyo. Furthermore, it was several difficulties to produce sufficient agricultural production to satisfy their needs, so they began to plant any spot of land even in the ruined towns. The Japanese account for 99.4% of the population, the Koreans 0.5% and the remaining 0.1% of the nationalities. More than 79% of the population lives in major cities, and the rest in villages and rural areas. 35% of the population is employed in industry, 27% are employed in agriculture, and there are approximately 700,000 fishermen working in the fishing profession, while the rest are employed in trade and private professions, and as employees of government departments and private enterprises.
• Reasons for the success of the Japanese modernization experience:
The former United States Ambassador to Japan Edwin O. Reischauer wrote a book entitled:
" Japan: The Story of a Nation," in this book, Reischauer posed a fundamental question: What is the secret of Japan? What is the secret of the Japanese?
Reischauer explained that the secret behind Japanese success is depending on two things: the will to take revenge against history and the building of a man. The Japanese will is clarified as taking revenge against the history and challenges of the defeat, the humiliated nation responded to defeat with great advancement and building human being which enshrined within the education system and Japanese culture.
The reconstruction process begins with the decentralization of the economy. The economic power was concentrated with the Japanese upper echelon¹ of society which was the Zaibatsu². Land and companies were redistributed to spread out the economic concentrations. Public Unions were established to support the workers and women were allowed to take part in positions of power. The schools were rejuvenated and became compulsory for both genders and the universities were expanded as well. Political, political prisoners who were against imperial Japan released and this great influx of new ideas spurred the Japanese economy.
In his outstanding book:” Secrets of Japanese Administration”, Dr. Hussein Hammadi tried to answer an important question: What did the Japanese man do to overcome the losses of war? And how did he put himself on the road to make Japan one of the three most powerful economic forces in our modern world? Hammadi explained that the Japanese man’s success came out despite the fact that more than 100 million people must live in a patch of land of no more than 380 thousand square kilometers with volcanic mountains cover about 85% of them, and almost no natural wealth and resources. Since Emperor Meiji took power with the help of the samurai men in 1867, the development perception was that Japan's national solution is to modernize the country, this modernization would bring Japan to be a powerful modern country entering the industrial field with full force and it should open foreign markets even by force, the solution lies in horizontal expansion at the expense of neighbors, where military power is the key for achieving this expansion. The Japanese army won the war with China in 1895, then defeated Russia in 1905, then Korea in 1910, Japan entered World War I, then the second world war to take Indochina, Philippines, Malay, Singapore, Burma and Thailand. But all this led only to unconditional surrender in 1945 which was a normal result for the Japanese military ambition. From here the Japanese man ended, as Dr. Hammadi says in his book, to search through another and a new resolution and the corner stone of this resolution lies within the Japanese borders with no doubt linked to the Japanese person and the Japanese mind. Thus, Japan's educational system came to take a national decision and place it firmly in the mind of the new Japanese man. Therefore, after the Second World War, the Japanese man concluded that the national decision was vertical expansion through the Japanese man and their mind, not horizontal expansion using Japanese weapons.
Echelon¹: a level or rank in an organization, a profession, or society.
Zaibatsu²: is a Japanese term referring to industrial and financial business conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed control over significant parts of the Japanese economy from the Meiji period until the end of World War II
Development Strategies and factors implemented in Japan’s evolution process:
Japanese undertook the opportunity after their country left devastated and destroyed by World war II they started their economy from investment focused on industry. Indeed, Japan’s advancement in the economy was an incredible rate between 1950 till 1960 by investing in its manufacturing sectors, Accordingly, in the post-war era, Japan’s economy grew rapidly, averaging an annual growth rate of 10% (Harari, 2013).
• The Japanese administration what is known as «Japanese management»: is One of the most crucial factors of the Japanese Renaissance after the collapse of the economy upon the defeat in World War II, in the application of modern management principles, including the management of quality and teamwork, "team spirit, to a social value linked to Japanese culture, innovation and development, and other effective management principles and concepts. If we know that Japan has no natural resources and is located in a remote geographical location, we realize that the human element is the pillar of Japanese development and renaissance, which has been focused on by Japanese economic development programs, it is not surprising that the human element is the most important pillar of development and renaissance in any society, so investment in the human element is one of the priorities of development plans and renaissance in all societies.
This development is due to several factors, including socialization, social education, educational curricula, work environment systems, etc. Working within a team became a distinctive characteristic of the Japanese personality. Besides, accomplishing many elements which support their progress:
1-Clearly defining the team's task, size of the team, appoint a team leader, define the duties and powers of each team’s member, and determine the time needed to accomplish the task. The team composition must be in line with the team's goals and objectives.
2- Japanese personality: Japanese personality disciplined, sanctifying time, respect the system, and it innovates within one team, and strictly abide by the ethics of dealing, and rules of trading it could be described with honesty. There is a general sense of security in Japan that provides productive employment and availability for most social services. the law is strict in accountability of the violators, and the sense of the social defect that has been created within the Japanese citizen since his/her early childhood, and the law is applicable on rich and poor, Japanese law is not merciful to anyone. When violations occur, specialists study circumstances of its causes, charging the criminal, and prevent recurrent recurrence of the violation. In addition, the Japanese community values impose on the person an apology, so they apologize and admit their mistakes most of the time. In 1989, the Japanese succeeded in reviewing educational programs and purifying them of the individual imported values, ethics and behavior programs were added in an integrated format, which was completely reviewed every ten years. Ethics applied as a subject course every week throughout the year and in all school.
3- The Japanese teacher: The role of the teacher in Japan at various stages reflects the Japanese interest in education, their enthusiasm, and their appreciation for it. Teachers are respected, and have high social ranking among other professions, evident by their prestigious social outlook, as well as they earn attractive salaries that provide them with a decent and dignified life. It is evident by the rush to fill this prestigious position in society. Most of these teachers are university graduates, but they only receive this post after passing rigorous written and oral acceptance tests. Of course, the competition for these job positions are strong, generally, reflect society's perception towards them, and reflect an image of commitment, team spirit. In addition to their work in schools and their training and studies to raise their scientific levels, they take care of the details of their students' life, and teachers periodically visit homes of their students to check on the general atmosphere to assist students on the one hand, and on the other emphasize communication with family which support integration between schools and student’s families.
⁎ Japan's "economic miracle"
The qualitative shift that the Japanese people have made in contemporary human history is a notable example for the peoples of the world. No great defeat in the Second World War has aroused jealousy and flamed of enthusiasm like what happened with Japanese youth. they have fetched and persuade searching for ways which enable themselves to progress and continue to turn their country from destruction into an advanced position. The name of Japan became imprinted in our minds; for its inventions and industries that attracted world after a tragic disaster, which was regarded as a painful defeat by Allied forces at the end of the Second World War. Many people and politicians lost hope that this country would be able to stand on its own again because it had retreated to a defeated Third World state. That terrible defeat, massive human losses, and massive destruction were real reasons for the death of that state, but the will and the determination were the evoking forces of their souls to rebuild their country and starts from zero.
Conclusion:
The Japanese raised from ashes in the post-war years creating the so-called “Japanese miracle” it is worth to mention here the strong relationship between culture and economy in Japan. Hence, culture is a vital instrument and the core competence between universal characteristics of human species and the individual’s idiosyncratic characteristics, applying to the traits, behavior, and models of thinking shared by Japanese people. Economic and historical research may be needed to consider all relevant factors that influenced Japan’s economy, but the bottom line is that Japan’s experience could illustrate how economic growth in real terms is possible without bank loans and credit growth and considering the actual conditions of falling prices. The nominal! GDP growth in the short term may entail boom-bust business cycles, capital misallocation, malinvestment and hence losses in the long run. It follows that the key for growth in real terms and in the long run is to avoid capital destruction (misallocations of capital, malinvestment) rather than to rely on fiscal stimulus, credit expansion and inflation that ultimately erode real savings and lead to capital consumption.
